Wednesday, May 13, 2009

It does not matter that al-Qaeda is not a threat to the homeland — you need to prepare for a terrorist attack regardless, according to PrepareMetro KC, a website put together by the Greater Kansas City region’s Metropolitan Emergency Managers Committee, which is funded by the Department of Homeland Security.

The PrepareMetro KC site has a nifty and nicely produced video — your tax dollars at work — instructing the good people of Kansas City on the "Seven Signs of Terrorism."

“Terrorist operations begin with extensive planning,” warns the federally funded website. “You can help prevent and detect terrorism — and other types of crime — by watching out for suspicious activities and reporting them to the proper authorities. Many of these activities, in and of themselves, may not indicate criminal activity. Taken together, however, they may be a cause for concern. If you observe people acting suspiciously, don’t hesitate to contact local law enforcement.”

Note our emphasis. It’s not so much about scary guys in turbans half way around the world in caves or hiding out in remote villages mired in the 16th Century. It’s about criminals engaged in “suspicious” behavior. According to the Ministry of Homeland Security and PrepareMetro KC, crime is a form of terrorism.

Federal money is now routinely used to fight crime under the aegis of fighting non-existent terrorism. Last year, for example, the feds teamed up with 50 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies engaged in an “anti-terrorism initiative” called Operation Sudden Impact. “Even though Memphis hasn’t suffered a terrorist attack, the city is using federal grants to fight crime, which might lead to the discovery of a terrorist suspect. Other cities are using federal money with similar programs,” the Commercial Appeal reported last April.

“Information gathered in the sweep will be reviewed by intelligence officers at the local Homeland Security center. The information will be forwarded to the state’s Homeland Security center in Nashville.”

71 people were arrested in the operation. Not one was a terrorist.

The PrepareMetro KC site has a nifty and nicely produced video — your tax dollars at work — instructing the good people of Kansas City on the “Seven Signs of Terrorism.” Basically the video tells people to be on the lookout for suspicious behavior and not to hesitate to report this to the police. The video shows a white male engaged in surveillance of “government buildings or military facilities,” attempting to get information on “critical infrastructure” from citizens, testing security, “acquiring supplies” (law enforcement equipment and identification, military uniforms and decals), and “suspicious behavior” such as unusual demeanor or being in areas where they “don’t belong,” etc.

Chances of a white al-Qaeda terrorist “probing” and engaging in “suspicious behavior” leading to an attack is slim to none, but then the point is not to catch a real terrorist who hates us because of our freedom. It’s about spreading around paranoia with government money. It’s also about another large government bureaucracy justifying its existence for the next fiscal year.

As the Los Angeles Times noted last May, the “number of Americans being secretly wiretapped or having their financial and other records reviewed by the government has continued to increase as officials aggressively use powers approved after the Sept. 11 attacks. But the number of terrorism prosecutions ending up in court — one measure of the effectiveness of such sleuthing — has continued to decline, in some cases precipitously.”

In other words, there are precious few if any terrorists in the country.

Of course, this does not stop the government from inventing fantastic terror scenarios that never play out, mostly to keep you on the edge of your seat so you will consent to the incremental dismantling of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

“The universe of crime and terrorism stretches out infinitely before us, and we too are working to find what we believe to be out there but cannot always see,” declared FBI Director Robert S Mueller in February. In order to drive home the point, Mueller rolled out the scary prospect of a Mumbai styled terror attack by “home-grown terrorists” and others.

In the meantime, the FBI spends its time monitoring the real threat to the establishment — the antiwar movement. “The FBI has collected extensive information on the tactics, training and organization of antiwar demonstrators and has advised local law enforcement officials to report any suspicious activity at protests to its counterterrorism squads, according to interviews and a confidential bureau memorandum,” the New York Times reported in November, 2003.

Likewise the DHS. “The U.S. Department of Homeland Security tracked the protest plans of a peaceful Washington area antiwar group and passed the information to the Maryland State Police, which had previously labeled the activists as terrorists in an intelligence file,” the Washington Post reported in February. In 2006, the ACLU released documents revealing an effort by the DHS and the Pentagon to spy on antiwar groups in California. Russ Knocke, then DHS spokesman, categorized this violation of civil liberties as “an important public safety mission” and said the agency will “maintain situational awareness of large public gatherings and share that with state and local partners.”

It is no mistake the KC video portrays a white male and not an Arab toting and AK47 and wearing a keffiyeh. The purpose of the video is to prompt locals to spy on their neighbors, foster a snoop climate, and in general heighten the level of paranoia required as the government implements its police state control grid.